having a thin cutting edge or a fine point; well-adapted for cutting or piercing.
a sharp knife.
terminating in an edge or point; not blunt or rounded.
The table had sharp corners.
involving a sudden or abrupt change in direction or course.
a sharp curve in the road; The car made a sharp turn.
abrupt, as an ascent.
a sharp drop.
consisting of angular lines and pointed forms or of thin, long features.
He had a sharp face.
clearly defined; distinct.
a sharp photographic image.
distinct or marked, as a contrast.
sharp differences of opinion.
pungent or biting in taste.
a sharp cheese.
piercing or shrill in sound.
a sharp cry.
keenly cold, as weather.
a sharp, biting wind.
felt acutely; intense; distressing.
sharp pain.
merciless, caustic, or harsh.
sharp words.
fierce or violent.
a sharp struggle.
keen or eager.
sharp desire.
quick, brisk, or spirited.
alert or vigilant.
They kept a sharp watch for the enemy.
mentally acute.
a sharp lad.
extremely sensitive or responsive; keen.
sharp vision; sharp hearing.
shrewd or astute.
a sharp bargainer.
shrewd to the point of dishonesty.
sharp practice.
Music.
(of a tone) raised a chromatic half step in pitch.
F sharp.
above an intended pitch, as a note; too high (opposed to flat).
Informal. very stylish.
a sharp dresser; a sharp jacket.
Radio, Electronics. of, relating to, or responsive to a very narrow range of frequencies.
Phonetics. fortis; voiceless.
composed of hard, angular grains, as sand.
keenly or acutely.
abruptly or suddenly.
to pull a horse up sharp.
punctually.
Meet me at one o'clock sharp.
briskly; quickly.
The horse turned sharp to the left.
Music. above the true pitch.
You're singing a little sharp.
something sharp.
Usually sharps a medium-length needle with a rounded eye and a sharp point, used for all-purpose hand sewing.
a sharper.
Informal. an expert.
Music.
a tone one chromatic half step above a given tone.
(in musical notation) the symbol ♯ indicating this.
having a keen edge suitable for cutting
having an edge or point; not rounded or blunt
involving a sudden change, esp in direction
a sharp bend
moving, acting, or reacting quickly, efficiently, etc
sharp reflexes
clearly defined
mentally acute; clever; astute
sly or artful; clever in an underhand way
sharp practice
bitter or harsh
sharp words
shrill or penetrating
a sharp cry
having an acrid taste
keen; biting
a sharp wind
sharp pain
music
(immediately postpositive) denoting a note that has been raised in pitch by one chromatic semitone
B sharp
(of an instrument, voice, etc) out of tune by being or tending to be too high in pitch Compare flat 1
phonetics a less common word for fortis
informal
stylish
too smart
involved in the area of any activity where there is most difficulty, competition, danger, etc
in a sharp manner
exactly
six o'clock sharp
music
higher than a standard pitch
out of tune by being or tending to be too high in pitch Compare flat 1
she sings sharp
music
an accidental that raises the pitch of the following note by one chromatic semitone
a note affected by this accidental Compare flat 1
a thin needle with a sharp point
informal a sharper
(usually plural) any medical instrument with sharp point or edge, esp a hypodermic needle
Sharp, keen refer to the edge or point of an instrument, tool, and the like. Sharp applies, in general, to a cutting edge or a point capable of piercing: a sharp knife; a sharp point. Keen is usually applied to sharp edges: a keen sword blade. As applied to mental qualities, sharp, keen, intelligent, quick have varying implications. Sharp suggests an acute, sensitive, alert, penetrating quality: a sharp mind. Keen implies observant, incisive, and vigorous: a keen intellect. Intelligent means not only acute, alert, and active, but also able to reason and understand: an intelligent reader. Quick suggests lively and rapid comprehension, prompt response to instruction, and the like: quick at figures.
First recorded before 900; (adjective) Middle English; Old English scearp; cognate with German scharf; (adverb) Middle English; Old English scearpe, derivative of the adjective; (noun, verb) Middle English, derivative of the adjective
Something with a thin edge or a fine point that can cut is sharp. It's painful when your dog climbs into your lap, poking you with his sharp toenails. A knife and a pointed stick are sharp, since they can pierce or cut, and a piercing pain in your neck is also sharp. You can also use sharp to describe a smart person or clever decision — or someone who dresses well, or the clothes such a person wears. Sharp also means clear, like sharp images in a book of black and white photography, or sudden, like a sharp turn in a mountain road.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
These launches, conducted from a Texas base near protected natural areas, have drawn sharp criticism from advocacy groups in recent years.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
Oil futures posted sharp losses as the U.S. postponed planned major attacks on Iran to see if talks can be resumed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Researchers report that people assigned to Tübingen's type 2 diabetes risk cluster 5 continued to experience rising blood sugar, a sharp decline in insulin production, and a consistently elevated risk of developing diabetes.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
Record investment from 1994 to 1999 eventually gave way to a sharp decline in computer-related spending from 2001 to 2005.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
His ears are so sharp that he can hear the clouds pass.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
Sharp up and down days are increasingly common, suggesting chaos beneath the market’s bid-and-ask machinations.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
Lifelong soccer fans like Sharp aren’t approaching the World Cup as a mere vacation.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026
Marjorie and Mark Sharp often ask themselves one simple question - what happened to our daughter in that hospital?
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026
Charges against Sharp and Walsh were dropped in March.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Because of her sharp nose and sharp glance, Beetle always thought of her as Jane Sharp.
From "The Midwife's Apprentice" by Karen Cushman
This 20th century Brazilian channeling of Bach flowed naturally from Cuong’s G sharps, leaving that impression that, while the scenery differs, the Amazon, Rhine and Mekong Delta are all rivers, and water everywhere is nourishing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2022
It also found wall-mounter hand sanitising containers were empty and medical sharps bins were filled to above capacity.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2022
The old ones go into a sharps container — a sturdy plastic box — that he sends to Trac-B Exchange in Las Vegas, where they are sterilized and pulverized for safe disposal.
From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2022
They even found ways to put sharps containers out of sight, so that those who were nervous about shots weren’t fearful.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 25, 2022
A major has three sharps: F sharp, C sharp and G sharp.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
In the worm's jaws, sharper changes in strain across tiny regions appear to increase the interlocking of defects within the atomic structure, producing the characteristic size effect.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026
Fixed-asset investment declined 5.7% in the first half of the year, widening from the 4.1% fall in the January-May period and sharper than the 5.0% drop forecast by polled economists.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
But that agreement can obscure a much sharper divergence.
From Slate ● Jul. 15, 2026
It makes you sharper and brings the best out of you.
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2026
It came out sharper than I’d intended because I was starting to feel weirdly defensive.
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
Figures on Tuesday showed US consumer prices rose 3.5 percent last month, down from May's three-year high of 4.2 percent and the sharpest pullback in six years.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
After observing these lab grown retinas over several months, the team identified the cellular events that shape the foveola, the tiny region at the center of the retina responsible for the sharpest vision.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
But in Mbappe they have a player in his prime, at his sharpest, showing why he is one of the best finishers on the planet.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
The pattern was sharpest where it would matter most: Residents of agriculture-dependent regions were more likely to say ICE presence would hurt the economy.
From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026
“She may not be the sharpest tool in the woodshed,” Emma whispered, “but she’s got a massive heart and she’d go to the grave for her mates. We’re thick as thieves, Bronwyn and me.”
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
These are some macho men of the old Southern tradition, and trying their final product usually consists of a gigantically sharped bushman’s knife hacking through a Fred Flintstone style brontosaurus size steak.
From Forbes ● Jan. 21, 2015
Hence didactic William sharped his own son out of board-money.
From Time Magazine Archive
To flat a sharped degree, use a natural.
From Music Notation and Terminology by Gehrkens, Karl Wilson
A high, childish soprano voice was essaying to carry the sustained note an octave above the man's voice; once it sharped.
From Amarilly of Clothes-line Alley by Maniates, Belle Kanaris
Then he that sharped, And pocketed a prize by fraud obtained, Was marked and shunned as odious.
From The Task and Other Poems by Cowper, William
Keaton’s comeback is the result, he says, of sharping his focus.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 13, 2014
Outwardly innocent, Santana's instrumental solos are long-lined and full of musical guile, bending, flatting and sharping with something of the intricacy of Oriental music.
From Time Magazine Archive
With all this injustice, he is never a good case, but, like those among I men who live by sharping and robbing, he is generally poor.
From Time Magazine Archive
Nor does he ever seem to question the various means by which he pursues his end: army desertion, card sharping, contracting a loveless marriage in order to acquire a fortune.
From Time Magazine Archive
They were chiefly ash, larch, maple, wych elm, and sallow, and the rough butts, when sawn off before the sharping, supplied the firing for the boiling.
From Grain and Chaff from an English Manor by Savory, Arthur H.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
